The Great British Pubco Scam. Pubs are closing all over Britain yet pubs are places that most people love and think fondly of as some of the most significant, treasured, iconic parts of our culture, places to be cherished, nurtured and looked after. Yet they're closing everywhere... WHY? It doesn't make sense does it? Read on...
A bit about me. And a bit about them. And some photographs...

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Sunday, April 10, 2011

@zeban thanks for that Guardian link. Well then, that article just proves how messed up the whole system is. It's not complicated, if 'Cognita' makes a substantial profit out of education - it's not doing education for the right reasons. A profit for any business is a necessity but in education it should be regarded not as a profit but as a surplus which should and MUST be invested back into the education system in order to make a better learning environment for future generations of customers i.e. children.

@Curmudgeon. My boys don't need a boot camp. They are well socialised, fairly streetwise, broad minded, alert and competent young people. They want excitement, stimulation, inspiration, engagement, exploration and access to the wider world that surrounds them. These factors apply to many of their friends, no matter their demographic background. They don't want to be pinned down to the needs of kids who have the misfortune to come from screwed up dysfunctional backgrounds that make them incapable of concentrating on their life development.

In a sense this whole discussion aboout secondary education makes little sense because, as it must be at government level because there are too many hot potatoes that cannot be touched, it's not taking a holistic view of Education For All. The discussion is about one cohort of kids when really it should be looking generally at why so many children who get to secondary school age are altogether incapable of engaging in education at all; who seem rather to exist by underachievement or to thrive by disrupting their educational surroungings in which case no one gets a decent educational deal. The fact is that good schools are in large part good schools because they manage to keep underperforming kids out and kids who cannot perform get concentrated in a few schools where there's little chance for them to ever get out of life's slough of despond.

It's half a picture when we cannot see that Children NEED to be capable of learning how to be competent people. They need to be given the opportunity of becoming fully functioning grown ups and, quite patently, our society does not enable all people the chance to break away from their backgrounds - when the only route thay have is through education.

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J Mark Dodds

I’m one of the Pub Persuaders, one of the Pub Professionals, one of the People who knows what’s going on – in PUBS that is - and this blog is about pubs, why they are so important to people and why they must be preserved, reinvigorated, enhanced and remade fit for purpose for the 21st century and beyond and how they must be made sustainable so that future generations can enjoy and learn from the rich seams of knowledge that can be found on everyone’s doorstep in every humble pub – until it’s closed forever – until it’s too late and people say ‘what happened to our pub? We really NEEDED that pub!’
I’m a publican, parent and photographer with a lot of food and drink experience in some of the busiest restaurants and clubs in Britain. Since long before 2008 (when I co-founded the Fair Pint Campaign) I’ve been a pro pubs, people and places person at the forefront of the national conversation about why pubs are closing… everywhere.
I love good pubs, my kids love good pubs, all my friends love good pubs – everyone loves good pubs and I’m determined to make sure good pubs remain part of everybody’s experience - of growing up in the UK and of visiting this country.